Brokerage Co. Owner Sentenced

Published 9:00 pm, Thursday, April 25, 2002

A man accused of operating one of the largest securities fraud schemes in history was sentenced Friday to eight years and four months in prison.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska ordered Randolph Pace to begin serving his sentence immediately, saying he had shown "utter contempt for the regulatory system."

She also ordered Pace, 56, to pay $134 million in restitution to more than 6,000 investors who lost money in the fraud he carried out while owner of Rooney Pace & Co.

Pace was accused of ripping off investors with a scheme in which 11 worthless securities were pushed on the public in initial public offerings allowing insiders including Pace to make millions of dollars selling shares.

The judge said Pace deserved a long sentence because he had been sanctioned five separate times by regulators for violations of the securities laws, including for schemes similar to the one carried out in this case between 1994 and 1997.